The Yoga-sûtras of
Patañjali are a classical concept. They constitute together with
the Bhagavad Gîtâ the backbone of the discipline of yoga:
the science of uniting one's consciousness. There are many
interpretations though of this analytical masterpiece of the
incarnation of Âdi-S'esha who is Patañjali. He, who as the
ego expansion of Vishnu wrote this summary so to say about the
discipline of connecting oneself with the soul, formed therewith the ego of yoga. The
existence of the many interpretations of this text pleads for the
quality of this text as much as the music of J.S. Bach is to be
considered good because it cannot be spoilt by interpretation. Each
interpretation shines in the glory of its own truth to harness the
I-awareness of the yogi. The authenticity and comprehensibility of such
an interpretation is the litmus test one might say for the quality of
someone's self-realisation in yoga, as much as the Bhagavad
Gîtâ
stands for the fundamental purport of someone's respect for the
integrity of the original personality of uniting consciousness. This
literary philosophical monument from the Indian realm here is
represented from the perspective of filognosy: the time, the ether,
and gross
matter are all equally fundamental expressions of nature's divinity and
thus yoga is actually the most concrete of all sciences around. For it
relates directly to these fundamental absolute truths when it offers us
the discipline to live with them. Yoga turning away from time, space
and matter lands, meditating on it, right in the middle of it as the
one and only correct vision upon it, as the only right consciousness of
unifying therewith, ... of the natural order of consciousness of
time therewith.

(1) And now, let's
talk about the instructions of uniting one's consciousness, of yoga.
(2)
Connecting
oneself
in
yoga means that the rumination of
the materially motivated mind comes to a stop. (3) Then the witness,
that one is for oneself, will be found in its original position of
service. (4) In all other cases one could say that one has been allured
by, that one identifies with, the ruminating mind. (5) There are five
forms of rumination which are either pleasant, or possibly of a
problematic nature. (6) They stem from a) direct experience, b)
from setbacks, c) from instability, d) from sleep, and e)
from one's memory.

a)
(7) The knowledge of direct perception draws from the source of that
which appears to the senses, from the conclusions one draws therefrom
and from scriptural authority, the basic reference for one's thinking.

b) (8)
Setbacks are the product of a wrong vision, which entails a certain
estrangement.

c) (9)
Instability is based upon clinging to superficial notions.

d) (10)
Sleep means a form of rumination in which one, being absent, relies
upon, rests upon a purely mental state.

e) (11)
Memory is based upon the experience of a matter one is not willing to
give up.

(12) In case one
wants to put and end to these five forms of rumination, one must a)
carry on with and b) refrain from.

a) (13)
Carrying
on
one
time
and
again
tries to find peace. (14) One succeeds
in finding a firm basis with protracted, uninterrupted, sustained
devotion.

b) (15) Refraining, or detaching,
from the listening to a superficial thing that one notices of oneself
when one is ruminating, is based
upon consciousness, the comprehension one achieves when one is free
from longing, when one has subdued one's desires. (16) That lofty
notion of one's own person is achieved when one is free from the three
operating modes of nature, viz. when one is not too slow, too agile, or
too much of all the good.

(17) The right form
of knowing is associated with weighing things, discriminating things,
feelings of happiness and self-awareness. (18) When one in the state of
rest builds upon the carrying on, another equilibrium comes about, a
purer outlook than one had before. (19) In that state of being, one
builds upon the not physically, not sensually, clinging to nature. (20)
Belief, courage, memory, absorption and true knowledge then constitute
the opposite of what one had before. (21) For those who are enthused
and of sincere effort it is within reach. (22) One may be differently
engaged in it in an unsteady way, a moderate way or a zealous way.

(23) On the other
hand one may also be of devotion for the person of God, viz. the Lord
of Yoga and His representatives. (24) The person of God is a person
different from others in being a reservoir apart from sorrow,
profit-minded work and the consequences thereof. (25) That reservoir is
the unsurpassed source of all knowledge. (26) What counts with that
source is the involvement with time that is stable, which there
is before all other things, which ranks first and which is also
the teacher. (27) He, that source, is indicated with the syllable of
AUM, the Pranava. (28) The purpose of that syllable is to be repeated
time and again for oneself. (29) The thoughts then turn inward to find
there next to an absence of hindrances also the control over them. (30)
The hindrances consist of disease, unsteadiness, indecision,
inattentiveness, laziness, misconception, discouragement and a
wandering mind. (31) There are also worries, despair, physical ups and
downs, and wrong breathing as the things that further lead astray.

(32) To counter that one must
carry on with that one true state, as a principle and reality. (33) One
needs to keep a benevolent disposition in mind that is of friendliness,
compassion and gladness in equanimity concerning happiness and grief,
virtue and vice. (34) Another possibility is to fix one's attention
upon the outgoing or retained breath. (35) Or else one fixes one's
attention upon an object which offers the mind a hold. (36) One can
also put an end to one's worries with the help of a bright source of
light. (37) Another possibility is to direct oneself at a holy object
or a conscious spirit free from attachments [a saint e.g.]. (38) Or
else in the basis that is fundamental to one's sleeping, waking and
dreaming. (39) Further one may meditate upon anything one feels
attracted to.

(40)
Mastering this one is able to find the greatest even in the most
insignificant. (41) With the rumination dissolving the knower, the
knowing and the known find their stable foundation as if it were a
clear diamond, and a transformation is realized. (42) Completely
absorbed in that transformed state all that one hears, the meanings,
the knowing and the considerations, roll in one. (43) When one's
mind, going over things of the past is completely purged, is freed from
its own nature so to say, the singular envisioning emerges in its
purest form which is free from any consideration. (44) From this
singular envisioning operating without the need of any consideration,
also the subtle itself is then disclosed. (45) The subtle which is
there from elsewhere, is then - without it being seen - included in the
knowing. (46) This being absorbed inevitably depends on the basis of
something existing in reality. (47) Having experience in this
unreflected knowing there is the serenity of the pure soul, the supreme
spirit. (49) What is hearsay or of one's own concluding is completely
unrelated to this purpose of pure intelligence. (50) The insight
emerging in that state contrasts sharply with the processing of other
impressions. (51) When one also stops that and thus puts an end to
everything, one is of the deep absorption that is without an object.

II)The practice

(1) When one
practices the uniting of one's consciousness there is penance, self
study and the contemplation of the person of God. (2) The absorption is
there to realize that that which is an obstruction weakens and that
what is wished for comes about.

(3) That what gives
trouble is a) a lack of knowledge, b) being egocentric,
c) passion, d) aversion and e) stubbornness.

a) (4) One may be ignorant concerning the field of action, the reactions to something, sleep, that
which found its end, and that which is appropriate. (5) To take the
temporal for the eternal, the impure for the pure, what is unhappy for
the happy and the inauthentic for the authentic, is what one calls
ignorance.

b)
(6) When the seer sees it as such that he is one and the same as that
what he is capable of, that is egoism.

c)
(7) Happiness is closely followed by attachment.

d)
(8) Unhappiness is closely followed by aversion.

e)
(9) In his emphasizing his own grip even the wise man is just as stubborn.

(10) These
problems must be stopped as soon as one can. (11) The moment they
manifest they must be countered with meditation. (12) For the workload
accruing from them constitutes a source of trouble one is faced with in
the life one leads now as well as in the life one is heading for. (13)
Because of that load one may time and again start all over, from that
karma one is stuck to a certain life and from that attachment one has
to suffer the consequences. (14) That can be pleasant or else painful,
depending the consequences of virtue and vice. (15) A person of
discrimination sees that the complete of these consequences,
the
turning
away
from
them,
the
impressions one has of them, the
worries thereof and the changing quality thereof, because of the
contrast they form, indeed constitute the misery. (16) The misery not
there yet can be averted. (17) The association of the one experiencing
with that what is experienced - the identifying one does - is the cause
that one - in one's meditating - has to forego. (18) Whether that what
one experiences leads to the clarification of the path of liberation,
or is the servant of sensual pleasure, depends on a) the
elements of nature, b) the nature of things, c) the
senses and one's acting to them, d) the fortitude, e)
someone's constitution and, f) the action one engages in.

a)(19) The changing quality of nature one
knows, b) either in the spirit or in matter, as a general
condition of change as well as a certain state subject to change. (20)
The seer is nothing but pure consciousness, even though he witnesses c)
a certain - changeable - state of mind. (21) The
knowable of nature is there only for the sake of the soul. (22)
Opposing matter material nature has played its part when one d)
successfully meditates, while on the contrary such is not
the
case in the normal state. (23) The purpose of uniting consciousness is
found in the to one's e) own mastery, realizing of one's own
nature. (24) It has to be so because of the lack of self-knowledge; the
ignorance. (25) The beatitude of the knower is found in the absence
thereof, in f) countering the not coming about of that uniting
of consciousness.

(26) To be
uninterrupted of true discrimination in the perceiving, is the way to
overcome the self-alienation. (27) In that fullness of knowing there
are seven realms. (28) When one by conscientiously maintaining one's
position unites the different elements in consciousness, all
impurities will thereof disappear so that the knowledge will radiate in its true
glory. (29) The innerly being united, the
absorption, further entails - the seven of - a) renunciation, b)
regulation, c) posture, d)
breath control, e) turning inward, f) concentration and g)
meditation; and thus there are the eight limbs.

a) (30) Nonviolence, love of truth, non-stealing,
celibacy and the not striving for
possessions together constitute the renunciation. (31) This is the
great universal vow valid independent of the place, the time, the
circumstance and one's birth.

b) (32) Cleanliness,
contentment, penance, consideration and surrender
to
the
person
of
God
constitute the regulation.

(33) Speculations,
theories, opinions, constitute the contrary which brings about the
misery in life. (34) Speculative knowledge has as its consequence that
matters are done
harm and such, it is
based upon desires, anger and misconceptions which may manifest rarely,
reasonably often or intensely. Thus situated in ignorance one continuously reaps the fruit of misfortune, which finds
its peace by contemplating the contrary. (35) When one is not of
unnecessary violence one finds stability in relation to one's
environment and is there a decrease of enmity. (36) When one is truth
loving one is of a stable position and one's actions are fruitful.
(37) When one does not misappropriate with everything which is
of value, a vested order will come about. (38) With celibacy a
firm basis is achieved for one's life energy and effort. (39) When one
is of stability by not acquiring possessions one will
understand in what way one had to start all over, or in what way one
took rebirth. (40) Being clean within and without one is with
body and soul of reticence in the - sexual - cohabitation with others.
(41) Of sense control enjoying in pure goodness and a one-pointed mind
one qualifies for the vision of the soul. (42) In contentment,
in benevolence, one reaches unsurpassable happiness. (43) By penance
all impurities are subverted and is an optimal functioning attained of
the sensory apparatus. (44) By means of consideration one
contacts the divinity of one's own choice. (45) By means of surrender
to the person, the integrity, the authority of God, one reaches the
perfection of absorption.

c) (46)
By
body postures
durable happiness is found. (47) By training
oneself in becoming empty one can contact the infinite. (48) From this
one is then no longer perturbed by opposites, by the duality.

d)
(49) When
this is attained, thus on the condition of proper postures, breath
control is found in the interruption of the movements of the in-
and outgoing breath. (50) The going outward and inward of the movements
of breath and the retaining of it must be tuned subtly and fine
according to time and circumstance, for frequency as well as duration. (51) A fourth option is found in
the sphere raising above the in- and outgoing breath. (52) From that
position that what veils the light of knowledge is annihilated. (53)
Also the mind is then ready to concentrate.

e)
(54) When one to the image
offered by the senses keeps that image in mind,
one has separated
oneself from the objects producing that mental image; that is called
the turning inward or the internalization of one's attention.
(56) Thus one has one's senses under control from the transcendental
position.

III)The control one achieves

f) (1)
Concentrating oneself means that one fixes
one's consciousness on the place where one resides.

g) (2) Meditation
means
that
one
fixes one's attention at the one point of that place.

(3) When there
is nothing but that one purpose, the authenticity emerges, the original
nature, which is then, so to say, empty; at that time one is perfectly
absorbed. (4) The combination of these three matters constitutes
the self-control. (5) Having mastered that there is the wisdom of that
vision. (6) It finds its use in different earthly realms. (7) Relative
to the previous limbs these latter three ones constitute the inward
position. (8) Just as well that is again the outer position of the
absorption without an object. (9) With the emergence in one's
imagination of thoughts and their ending the consciously countering
decreases and the coherence, the integration of consciousness,
increases, so that as the effect of the reticence consciousness
of
the
moment ripens.
(10) The state of its consciousness is one stream of serene peace. (11)
In developing absorption the divided attention decreases and the
one-pointed attention of consciousness increases. (12) The
alternatively being peaceful and then again the just as well emerging
of motives in one's consciousness, constitutes the changeability of the
undivided attention. (13) With this the transformation of the sensory
in all its divisions has been described as for proper conduct,
characteristics and the ultimate state.

(14) The position of
one's own nature resulting from the proper approach is either dormant,
calm or in a state of rapture. (15) Different angles result in
different effects.

(16) The threefold
self-control results in a higher insight in what came to pass inthe past and what lies ahead.

(17) Noises, motives and feelings which, crowding, are mingling, can be
distinguished in the self-control with which one gains insight in
the noises caused by all living beings.

(18) Impressions which, carried along in the
self, surface, give insight in previous states of life.

(19) One arrives at a better understanding for the
consciousness with which other people face reality.

(20) Solely on that basis one is able to deal with that what in life
is out of one's reach.(21) By
self-control relating to the form in which one dwells, one is able to
suppress the force thereof and may, with the link to the light in the eyes
broken, that light disappear.

(22) This way one is also able tomake sounds and other
sense perceptions disappear.

(23) One's actions have immediate consequences as also consequences
which are of effect later. By mastering that the threefold way (III 1,
2, 3), one acquires insight in the final outcome of actions or else
in the signs to them.

(24) One gains in strength by kindness and such.

(25) Enlightened by that strength one becomes as strong as an
elephant.

(26) Knowledge of hidden matters, matters elsewhere, and subtle
matters one acquires by the transcendental perception of projected
images.

(33)Controlling the light images in one's head gives the perfection
of
direct
perception.

(34) Furthermore the self-control with what
emerges in the mind results in knowledge of everything in existence.

(35) Mastering the interest of the heart one
acquires insight in the functioning of consciousness.

(36) The good sense
and nature of a person differs absolutely from his consciousness,
which, being unified with it, leads to experience; but separated in the
control of what is one's own, true knowledge of the person comes
into being. (37) Therefrom perceiving, hearing, touching, seeing,
tasting and smelling finds its existence. (38) These abilities thus
called into existence constitute obstacles to one's being absorbed.
(39) Letting go of this cause of bondage and the movement of thought to
it, one acquires access to the consciousness of someone else's body.
(40) With the control of the
ascending breath one rises above mud, water, thorns and such, so that
one is not in touch with them. (41) Controlling the diaphragm one
realizes one's radiance. (42) In control with the hearing process in
relation to the ether, one develops the divine, transcendental ear.
(43) Controlling the body in relation to the ether it becomes as light as a ball of cotton wool
and one is, unified with it, capable of moving through the ether. (44)
Being outside of one's body the thoughts about what's outside become
real, the covering of the light is then broken. (45) One achieves
mastery over the elements by controlling oneself as to their
application, association, subtlety, form and mass. (46) Therefrom the
power is found to enter the smallest, the ability to have out-of-body
encounters and the ability to offer response in that position,
according to nature and function. (47) Manifesting oneself physically
one may assume a compact, hard, strong and attractive form. (48) In
controlling oneself with the false ego, or the intention of associating
the I-awareness of the process of knowing with the form of an outer
appearance, the control over the senses is found. (49) One is then,
with one's leading an existence outside of one's senses, as swift as
one imagines and then of mastery over the original state of the
primordial matter.

(50) Only he who
knows the difference between the good sense and nature of a person on
the one hand and his consciousness on the other, achieves dominion over
and omniscience withall that exists. (51) True progress is
achieved when one, as being the root of bondage, even gives up on this
- this desire to control and know. (52) Being called for a superior
position it is very well possible that the unwanted recurs when one
doesn't laugh about such a way of dealing with reality. (53) It is so,
that by controlling oneself with the succession
of
the
moments
of
time [thus
with the help of a good schedule of meditation no longer being disturbed in time] one
reaches the spiritual insight of full realization. (54) From this one
is of understanding for that what stays the same separate from another
state of being, place, characteristic or birth. (55) Everything in
existence radiates for him when he [as the self-aware witness] at all
times is positioned outside of the order of that what exists; this now
is elevated knowing. (56) This pure existence for itself equals the
pure goodness of the person.

IV) What progress entails

(1) Starting a new
life one can with penance, mantras, incense or natural medicine and
absorption, see the perfections come about. (2) In a new existence
there is the fulfillment of a transformation of material nature. (3)
The direct causation of nature on itself has no purpose, but may on the
other hand put things apart by setting boundaries like a farmer does.
(4) It is only through the I-awareness that the different phenomena of
consciousness become apparent. (5) Even though consciousness is one,
there is in one's personal evolution the effect of countless different
forms of existence and consciousness. (6) Of them are only they who are
of meditation free from discontinuity in life. (7) That what is done by
someone who is of uniting consciousness, is black nor white, but that
what is done by others is of a threefold nature; viz. then of darkness,
then clear, and then again in between. (8) That what he - the one
starting all over time and again - carries with him ripens according to
that what appears in the mind as thoughts and expectations. (9) In
spite of the separation by place, time and birth, there is an
uninterrupted memory of those attainments which is of an equal
identity. (10) That what is carried along is there since time
immemorial and constitutes an incessant flow of questions and desires
in man. (11) Their coherence in the self is based upon the tight
relationship between cause and effect; when that relation disappears,
the questions disappear. (12) One's own nature exists in different
conditions: someone's character in the past is maintained in the
future. (13) The qualities or modes of that self are then manifest, and
then again of the subtle body with the different conditions. (14) From
the oneness of the self in the midst of the change there is thus the
real existence of an essence. (15) Even though that what really exists
stays the same, there is still the difference of consciousness because
of the two different paths one travels - of existing manifest and
subtle. (16) What if that what really exists wouldn't be noticed..., it
doesn't depend on this or that consciousness. (17) What really exists
is known or not known, depending on the expectations held in
consciousness which color it. (18) With the changes of consciousness
the master thereof, the person or the soul, is always known
because he is unchanging. (19) Consciousness has no light of its own
because it can be perceived as something existing on itself. (20)
Furthermore consciousness cannot at the same moment realize itself both
states. (21) With two consciousnesses there would, because of an excess
of mutual self-considerations, be a confounded memory. (22) The seer
having reached his own unchangeable status has in that an intelligence
of his own. (23) Consciousness as well reflecting the knower as the
known, then encompasses all and is no longer confounded. (24) Even
though that consciousness is endowed with countless impressions, it is,
because of the fact that it is directed at that higher purpose, of a
good consistency. (25) The seer of discrimination assures himself of
the existence of the soul and thus finds the way out. (26) Being
profound consciousness is then attracted to the purpose of progress,
the purpose of emancipation: the undivided, enlightened state of
supreme happiness. (27) Latent impressions break through that firm
faith, through that creed, in case of a breach of discipline. (28) As
said (in 2.10 & 11) all that matters is the banishing of these
difficulties.

(29) If one is even
free from desires considering this reward, and with full discrimination
is steadfast in it, one is of absorption in the cloud of the true
nature of justice: one is of the complete of all forms of proper
conduct - of God. (30) It is then that the fruitive motive dissolves
and the end is found of one's difficulties. (31) Then freed from the
covering of impurities one is of spiritual insight and the infinity of
the knowable appears as something insignificant. (32) With that having
successfully evolved the being subjected to the natural modes finds its
perfection of order. (33) The order of things becomes crystal clear
when one no longer fights the uninterrupted flow of moments, when one
no longer wages against the course of time (see also III-30). (34) With
the civil
virtues taken care of (of regulating the lust, money, the right
conduct, and the liberation united in devotion with it), the natural
modes (of goodness, passion and ignorance) return to their primal state
of equilibrium, which equals the establishment of the beatitude of
one's original nature, or the power of pure consciousness, and with
that it has all been said.